The Buck Stops Here Roundtable #9: Mid-Season Review

Based on how the season has unfolded, have your expectations for this team changed?

Coffman: Yes, although only slightly. With the playoffs in sight, I would much rather the team make a push to get there instead of relaxing their efforts for a higher pick. Sure, there’s little chance they make it out of the first round, but the experience would be invaluable for the younger guys.

Schlepp: Seeing how well the team has performed in big games has raised my expectations, however foolish that may be. The Bucks continue to play hard in games they, on paper, should have no business being in. I was hoping for a chance at the playoffs at the beginning of the year, now I’ll be thoroughly disappointed if they don’t make at least the eighth seed. Giannis and Jabari have spoiled me this season and 82 games isn’t enough.

Katti: My expectation for this Bucks team has changed. Before the season started, I was thinking that Milwaukee could make the playoffs, but it was not a guarantee. Based on how well the Bucks play against some of the best teams in the association, I am expecting them to get out of the slump and make the playoffs. Home court advantage may be out of the question at this point, but I am sure that this team can make some noise come the postseason.

Heffernon: My expectations for this team have changed a lot throughout the season. I thought this team had zero chance of making the playoffs when Khris Middleton went down. After the first quarter of the season I was almost positive they would make the playoffs because of Giannis and Jabari’s continued improvement, the revelation that is Malcolm Brogdon, and the small yet incredibly impactful changes from Greg Monroe. Now, once again, I believe this team will not make the playoffs. They are reeling at a bad time and even though they are close to the eighth seed, I don’t expect a hobbled Middleton will be enough firepower to get them over the hump.

McGee: Yes. I expected them to be in the mix for the eighth seed when the season finished, even with Middleton’s injury. When they really started to hit their stride (“they” being primarily Giannis and Jabari), the shape of the rest of the East made me believe that maybe as high as the 4-5 matchup could be a possibility. With the way their confidence and performance has plummeted in recent weeks, I now think we may be approaching a point where either of those would be beyond them, though.

If the Bucks can’t stabilize in the run-up to the All-Star break, the second portion of the season still sees the majority of the team’s road games against the Western Conference. That doesn’t fill me full of promise, so if the Bucks can’t get back to .500 in the next 10 days or so, it could quickly become another season where they’re destined for the lottery.

Treske: With how everything has unfolded, it’s hard not to have your expectations change.

Personally, Middelton’s injury sunk any hope for the playoffs for me this year, but with all the reasons everyone else has mentioned, I firmly believed in seeing a playoff series come mid-April, especially considering where the team stood in the East only a couple of weeks ago.

But now their recent run has seriously jeopardized that, even as seeds six through eight are easily up for grabs. Right now, the possibility of the playoffs doesn’t matter that much if the team can’t get out of their ongoing downward spiral and the run up until the All-Star break will strongly determine their fate this year.

Wray: Adam and John nailed the ebbs and flows of most Bucks fans’ expectations over the past few months. Before the Middleton injury, I was modestly looking at roughly 40 wins and lower-seed playoff contention. Then, Khris went down for a majority of the season and I instantly reeled back my prediction to a mid-lottery bound 36 wins. Giannis proceeded to set the league on fire, Jabari began to consistently drop 20 and Milwaukee’s bench came into it’s own. Looking back, it was an awesome few weeks; the Greek Freak was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, just nailed a buzzer-beater in Madison Square Garden and the Bucks genuinely looked like a team who could fight for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Now on the back of a vicious 1-9 slide over their last 10, dropping several winnable games, Milwaukee looks destined for another year in the lottery if they can’t break out of this slump before the All-Star break. As the East stands, the lower playoffs seeds are still within reach but as the schedule becomes tougher for the Bucks, this rough patch has seriously hurt their post-season chances. The return of Khris Middleton should hopefully give the team some much needed confidence, but as he’ll likely be minutes restricted and trying to shake off some rust, I wouldn’t hang my hat on Khash saving the season from the jaws of mediocrity.